Ребенку в любви (A Child's Love)
by CaskettOlicityJeca
Summary: Love us for children. That's what Natasha Romanoff believes. But maybe, just maybe, a teenage girl with fiery red hair and green eyes can help Natasha learn to love the man who's been by her side for years. Maybe love is for children, but haven't you heard that a child's love is always the best kind of love? This is the story of Анатолий Омельчук -, Наталия Зобков and Клинт Бартон.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I have only just recently realised how much I ship Clintasha, and how gorgeous they are. This is my first Avengers fanfic, and this will be a little side project, that I'll do along with my _Agents of SHIELD_ story, Big Leagues.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _The Avengers_ or anything affiliated with Marvel.**

* * *

Clint Barton walks quickly down the dark hallways, peering briefly into each cell he passes. Not all of the cells have anyone inside. Those that do hold young women. Some look no older than twelve, others have to be in their late twenties. None of them are the woman he's looking for.

_"Agent Barton,"_ A familiar voice filters through the comm. in his ear, _"I found her."_

"Where?" Barton snaps, pausing his footsteps as he awaits an answer.

_"Cell number 437."_

"On my way, Captain. How is she?" Clint asks, turning and jogging into a new corridor.

_"Well, she's alive."_

"That's a good start, but I need a bit more information, Cap."

_"Weak pulse, covered in plenty of cuts, black eye, she seems to have fallen and hit her head pretty hard. Also…"_ Steve's voice trails off slowly.

"Also what?" Clint asks.

_"She-"_ The Captain doesn't need to finish his sentence as Hawkeye rushes through the door of cell 437.

His partner is lying on the ground, Steve crouched beside her, in nothing but her underwear and bra. There are various different gashes all over her arms, chest, stomach and legs.

"Oh my god…" Clint mutters, pushing Steve out of the way and kneeling at Natasha's side, his eyes tracing every mark on her pale skin.

"I believe she's been assaulted." Steve says quietly, he too taking in all of her wounds.

"What do you mean?" Clint looks away from Natasha and up at Steve.

"You know exactly what I mean." Steve states, not wanting to have to spell it out.

_"Guys, I hate to break the moment, but you'll have company in less than three minutes if you don't get out of there right now."_ Tony's voice says.

Clint immediately springs into action, scooping Natasha up in his arms. "You've got my back?" He asks Steve over his shoulder.

"Of course. Just get her out of here." Steve responds.

Both men are so focused on getting their teammate out safely that they don't see the young girl curled up in the corner of the room clutching the wound on her stomach, her red hair matted with blood. They are so focused on saving Natasha that they don't hear the girl's quite plea for help.

* * *

**Let me know what you thought of the chapter, and if I should continue with this story.**

** Any ideas as to who the girl could be?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so here's the next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own _The Avengers_ :(**

* * *

Natasha moans in pain as Clint carefully lays her down on the medical table in the airplane. As soon is she is on the metal slab, Tony and Bruce are working around her, trying to assess the damage.

"Barton…" She whispers, her voice hoarse.

"Shhh, it's okay, Nat." He assures her. "You're safe."

"Il…" She mumbles, her eyes falling closed. She opens them again with great effort and focuses on what she wants to say, "Where's Ilaria?"

"Who's Ilaria?" Steve asks the question they're all wondering.

"My… my daughter." Natasha manages. "She was in there… With me… Where is she?"

"Shit!" Clint exclaims, jumping up from his seat near Natasha's head. "Don't worry Nat. I'll get her."

The look of desperate terror on Natasha's face gives him pause until she says, "Please save her."

Barton nods determinedly at his partner. "Stark," He calls out, "I want you at the wheel. Be ready for takeoff as soon as I get back."

"Sir yes sir." Stark salutes dutifully.

Clint narrows his eyes in annoyance but runs off the jet and back into the prison. He again runs through the hallways, heading straight to cell 437.

He hears someone being hit repeatedly and quiet whimpers as he nears what was Natasha's cell.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" A British man yells.

"I don' know." A woman's voice answers, thick with a Russian accent.

"DON'T LIE TO ME, MISS ROMANOVA! HOW CAN SHE HAVE JUST VANISHED?!"

"I don' know." The woman sobs. "She vas… she vas there and then she vas gone."

"SHE DID NOT JUST DISAPPEAR!" Clint hears a new sound, which he guesses is a whip being cracked on flesh.

The woman screams in pain and Clint's pace quickens to a sprint.

"SHE DID NOT DISAPPEAR! TELL ME WHERE SHE WENT!"

"I do not know. I've said. I do not know where she is." The woman cries.

"No, but I do." Clint says, firing an arrow at the three men in the room.

"Are you okay?" Clint asks, moving toward the young woman, who he guesses can't be any older than 15 or 16. As he nears her he notes that her hair is a shade or two lighter than Natasha's, and she has piercing green eyes.

"You… you are the… Hawk," The girl states, her words clear despite her thick accent and broken English.

Clint pauses as he hears her voice clearly for the first time without her screams or sobs altering the sound. Her accent… it sounds just like Natasha's when he first found her.

"Yes. How do you know that?"

"She speaks of you often… My mother. She cares deeply… Trusts you."

"I trust her too. With my life."

"She safe?"

As Barton looks at the desperation in the young girl's eyes, he sees flashes of Natasha's own desperation in the airplane. Clint nods his head. "She's safe. Do you trust me?"

"My mother does… Yes… I trust you."

"Okay, then how about we get you out of here?"

She nods her head, "I like that."

"You're name is Ilaria?" Clint asks, and the girl nods. "My name is Clint. Your mother is my partner."

"You date her?"

"No," Clint smiles at the confused girl, "I work with her."

"Ahhh I see." Ilaria nods her head. "So… are we going?"

Clint laughs at her impatience. "So much like your mother."

"I am?"

Clint smiles softly at her, "You are. How about I take you to meet some more of your Mum's friends?"

"They nice people?"

"Of course." Clint says as he scoops the girl up, cradling her against his chest. "Why do you ask that?"

"Because the men who… took me… said they were my mother's… friends. They not nice friends."

"Trust me, we're not like those men. They were not your Mum's friends. We are. You'll be safe with us."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay." Ilaria rests her head on Clint's chest and closes her eyes, her messy red curls falling around her face. "Let us meet… my Mother's friends."

* * *

**Ain't that cute ;)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back! Thank you to kadee son 12345 for reviewing, here's the next chapter for you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _The Avengers_ or anything else affiliated with Marvel.**

* * *

As soon as Clint steps onto the plane carrying Ilaria, Natasha pushes Bruce away and stands, running over to them despite her injuries.

"Ilaria!" She exclaims.

Ilaria's eyes open at the sound of Natasha's voice, "Mama!" She responds, scrambling to get out of Clint's arms. As soon as her feet touch the ground, she launches herself at Natasha and the surrounding men can see nothing but desperate arms – Steve is pretty sure he sees Natasha cop a fist to the chin – and flying red hair as the two cling to each other.

"I'm sorry." Natasha whispers, "I'm so sorry."

Ilaria responds in Russian. Clint thinks she says something along the lines of, "It's not your fault," and then mother and daughter are speaking in fluent, fast Russian.

"What are they saying?" Bruce asks Clint.

Barton looks at him and shrugs his shoulders, "How the hell would I know?"

"I thought you'd know how to speak Russian, seeing as Agent Romanoff is your partner."

"The only Russian I know is cuss words and death threats, and I only know those because Nat throws them at me on a daily basis."

"Выключите его, выдержками. Или я поставлю пули в вас." Natasha snaps at him.

"See, that I understood. She said 'shut it, asshole. Or I'll put a bullet in you.'" Clint translates for the rest of the team.

"I like him." Ilaria says, looking at Natasha. "He very funny man."

Natasha sighs, "And you just inflated his ego tenfold."

"He nice man. He save you, then come back and save me." The girl states, her eyes flipping between her mother and Barton.

Clint shrugs it off, "That's what family does for each other."

"But you not my family." Ilaria's forehead crinkles in confusion.

"I'm Nat's family. That makes me your family, too."

Suddenly, Ilaria's face lights up as she smiles. "I not have many family. Only my Mama and Libby and Olena and Katja. No one else. I like to be your family."

"Who are these Libby and Olena and Katja people that the child speaks of?" Thor asks Barton.

Barton sighs in exasperation. "Why does everyone keep asking me these questions? I don't know!"

"Barton," Natasha says in that 'calm down or I'll make you calm down' voice she only ever uses on him.

"Libusa is the woman who has been looking after Aria for me. I saved her in the streets one night. I had just finished a job and was heading back to the Red Room to give my report when I saw her being mugged in an alleyway. I went and helped her, and she took Ilaria and I in. It wasn't much, but it was better than the apartment we'd been living in before. Olena and Katja are Libby's granddaughters. Olena is 19 now, I think, and Katja is 15."

"How old are you, Ilaria?" Clint asks.

"Sixteen years old." She answers.

"It was her birthday last Monday." Natasha expands. "That's why I was over here. I went to Libby's house, and she told me that she hadn't see Aria since the afternoon before. She told me Aria was studying when she left to go to the market, and when she got back Aria wasn't there. She thought that I'd come and taken her away for her birthday. It didn't take me long to discover who had taken her, and it didn't take them long to learn that I was in Russia and looking for her. They found me quite quickly, and I let them take me because I just wanted to get my daughter back."

"If she's 16, that means you must have been about 14 when you gave birth to her." Steve states.

"Eh, not exactly." Natasha says. She had hoped to avoid this discussion.

"What do you mean, 'not exactly'?" Tony asks as he walks out of the cockpit after setting the jet to autopilot, and over the group. "Whoa…" He says as he looks at Ilaria, "You're like a mini Natasha."

"Yes. She is my mother." Ilaria states.

"I could've guessed that much. Anyway… how were you 'not exactly' 14 when you had her?" Tony turns to Natasha.

Natasha sighs, running her hands through her hair. Ilaria comfortingly places her smaller hand inside her mother's and squeezes it gently. That's the encouragement that Natasha needs to tell her tale.

"I was seven years old when my mother died and Taras Romanov found me. He told me that he was my father. I never knew my father, and my mother never spoke of him, so I just assumed that Taras was telling the truth. Either way, he took me in as his own. When I was nearly 14, I was given a variation of the super soldier serum."

"What?!" Steve exclaims.

"Huh. That explains so much about you." Tony states.

Thor looks confused and slightly bored with this human talk, Bruce is watching Natasha with wide, stunned eyes, and Clint… Clint's face is unreadable, hidden behind the mask he used to wear around her for a while after he first saved her.

Ilaria, able to tell that Natasha can't continue at the moment, takes up the tale. "The serum… It allowed my mother enhanced healing… See, even now her wounds heal."

The men all look at the cuts covering Natasha's body, and sure enough they are not as bad and there are less of them than when Clint and Steve found her and brought her back to the plane.

"It also altered her ageing… Slowed it… She only look you, and her organ seem young."

"Are you an old woman, Agent Romanoff?" Tony smirks.

"Older than you think," Natasha responds. And I can still kill you blindfolded and with one hand."

"Well yeah, you have a few hundred years experience over me."

"She is not that old." Ilaria states impatiently.

"So, how old are you?" Bruce questions the assassin.

"I was born in 1928."

Steve's mouth falls open, Bruce's eyes widen even more, Tony grins with glee, and Clint visibly stiffens.

Thor beams and claps Natasha on the back. "You are no mere mortal after all, Spider lady."

"I know." Natasha states.

Clint, having heard enough of the story, turns and heads to the cockpit. Natasha's eyes follow him as he leaves, her eyes shining with a desperate need to make him understand.

"I'm ah… I'm just going to talk to Barton for a minute." She says quickly to her team, "Bruce, can you take a look at Ilaria please?"

"Of course. I'll examine her and dress her wounds." Bruce states.

Natasha nods at the doctor before she follows Clint's path to the cockpit.

"Would you like some clothes, Miss?" Steve asks Ilaria, making the other men aware of the fact that Ilaria is only wearing her bra and underwear, much like Natasha.

"Please." Ilaria nods her head.

Steve grabs one of his shirts out of a bag and helps Ilaria pull it onto her shoulders before Bruce motions for the girl to lie on the medical table so he can begin his examination.

* * *

**Please please please review and let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reviews, favourites and follows, guys.**

**_Disclaimer:_ I own nothing and nobody except Ilaria. All other ownership goes to Marvel, Disney, and Joss Whedon.**

* * *

Natasha steps into the cockpit and sits in the co-pilot's seat without saying a word to her partner. She knows that when Clint is ready to talk, he'll talk.

A few minutes later, without looking away from the sky in front of him, he speaks up. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"The part that I'm a Russian version of a super soldier or the part that I have a daughter?" She asks for clarification, also not looking at Clint.

"Both."

"I didn't want you to treat me any differently."

"I wouldn't-"

"Cut the crap, Clint. You and I both know that if I told you, you _would_ treat me differently."

"Only because you have a daughter who needs you to make it home alive," he snaps. "How many times have you almost died, Nat? How do you think _your daughter_ would feel if she got a call from Fury saying her mother was dead? Actually, does Fury know she exists? Would she even find out if you'd died or not?"

"My daughter never sees me anyway! She doesn't need me to make it home alive." Natasha replies just as sharply, before her voice softens. "Nobody knows about her, Clint. Just me. And you guys, now. And the Red Room, evidently. So she won't ever get a call from Fury."

"That's who had her? The Red Room?"

Nat nods her head in silence. "The one thing I promised myself was that I'd never let those bastards get their hands on her, and I failed. Clint, I can't even protect my own daughter. I'm never there for her. She barely even knows me. The only thing I'm good at is putting her in danger. She'd be better off without me."

Clint thinks back to the fear in Ilaria's eyes when she was asking if Natasha was safe. "I don't think that's true. She cares about you, even if you don't see her often."

"How do you know?" Natasha finally turns her head to look at him, and sees he's already watching her. He has been for a few minutes now, she was just too caught up in her own thoughts to notice.

"She's just as easy to read as you are, Nat. You both have the same tell."

Nat raises an eyebrow for him to explain further.

"Your eyes. Your eyes give away everything, Nat, if people know what to look for. Ilaria is the same."

"Nobody can read me as easily as you do. Before you, the only person who could take one look at me and know what I was feeling was Ilaria. You and her and quite alike, actually."

"You told her about me."

Natasha nods.

"But you didn't tell me about her."

"She's in enough danger as it is. I didn't want to put her in any more."

"I'd never hurt her." Natasha can hear the hurt in Clint's voice as he misinterprets her previous statement.

"No… not you. Never you." Natasha tries to assure him. "But I have my enemies, you have yours, and together we have even more. Just imagine if I had told you about her before Loki came. I mean… you told him everything. Everything about me, about us. If you'd known about Ilaria, imagine what he could have done to her."

"I swear I didn't mean to tell him anything, Tasha…"

"I know, Clint. Believe me, I know. I've been there before, had people pick through my brain. I know you didn't mean to tell him anything. But please, just try to imagine what Loki could have done to Ilaria if you knew about her then. He could have used her against you, against me, against us. I mean, he could have made you hurt her just to tear us apart. Please don't hate me for not telling you."

"God Nat, I don't hate you. Don't get me wrong, I want to right now, but I can't. We've been through too much for me to be able to. I just… I wish you'd told me." He holds up a finger to silence her when she opens her mouth to defend herself again. "I get why you didn't. But I still wish you had."

"I'm sorry," Is all she says, and if the Black Widow ever cried, she'd be crying right now. But she never cries, so instead she reaches her hand out and grabs Clint's, clutching his fingers tightly between her own.

"Me too." Clint says, squeezing her hand slightly.

"Everything's going to change now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Clint agrees, "But sometimes change isn't a bad thing."

* * *

"All okay?" Ilaria asks when Clint and Natasha exit the cockpit ten minutes later.

"Everything's fine." Natasha informs her daughter, kneeling down beside the metal table near Ilaria's head.

Ilaria looks at her mother disbelievingly before her eyes flip to Barton for his opinion.

"Everything's fine," He confirms.

"That good." Ilaria smiles.

"So, how's everything going here?" Natasha looks to Bruce as she asks her questions, running her finger along a cut on Ilaria's left cheekbone before she kisses the cut lightly.

"Well, she sustained many of the same injuries as you. Cuts, bruises, a few burns, and whip lashes which were only very recent. I've put antiseptic on all of the open skin lacerations and burns and have also bandaged them. We'll need to keep a close eye on the whip lashings and burns, because I'm worried they may become infected. But at the moment, she's fine. Dehydrated and fatigued, but fine. She should make a full recovery."

"Thank you, Bruce." Natasha smiles gratefully at the doctor.

"My pleasure." Bruce says.

After having a quick conversation with Natasha in Russian, Ilaria rolls onto her stomach in an attempt to fall asleep without hurting the new lacerations on her back from the whip. Natasha rolls up a hoodie and places it underneath Ilaria's head as a makeshift pillow.

* * *

Tony lands the jet near Libusa's house ten minutes later, and he, Clint and Natasha exit the plane to speak to Libusa about what happened, and to inform the elderly woman that Nat would take Ilaria back to America with her.

While the trio are speaking to Libby, Ilaria begins tossing in her sleep. She rolls onto her back and trashes at invisible attackers as she mumbles incoherent words.

"Ilaria…" Bruce says gently, trying to rouse her from her nightmare without touching her.

She begins whimpering words in Russian as her face scrunches in pain and fear.

"Ilaria." Steve crouches down at the girl's head and places his hand gently on her arm.

She flinches away from his touch and begins muttering in English. "No, please. Leave me. I promise, I be good. Please, stop. Please." She sobs, still asleep. "Please, get off me! No, stop!"

"Steve…" Bruce says in horror.

"I know." Steve responds, his face calm but his eyes revealing his inner turmoil. "Ilaria," He says soothingly to the girl, "Wake up, sweetheart. It's a nightmare. It's not real. Wake up."

Ilaria continues thrashing for another minute, before her body stills.

Bruce, Steve and Thor all look at each other worriedly.

"What is wrong with the child?" Thor wonders.

Suddenly, Ilaria's eyes snap open and she sits bolt upright, immediately wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them to her chest as she makes herself as small as possible. Her eyes flick nervously between the three men watching her, still not fully aware of where and who she is with. When she recognises the faces of her mother's team members, she relaxes slightly but is still obviously tense.

"Would you like a jacket?" Bruce asks her as he sees her shivering.

She nods her head, looking anywhere but at the three men watching her with worry. Bruce fetches her a brown jacket and hands it to Steve, because honestly… Steve's better at all this stuff than anyone else.

"Okay, I'm just going to help you into the jacket. Is that alright, Ilaria?" Steve asks carefully, not moving too close in fear of spooking her again.

She sniffles once and nods her head.

Steve steps closer to her and helps her into the jacket, zipping it up for her. He flashes back to all of the times he helped his younger sister, Lilian, into her jacket and smiles. He never got to see Lil grow up, but perhaps Ilaria will give him the chance to be a good older brother.

"Ilaria, sweetheart… what did those men do to you?"

"Erm… when my Mama came… they hit me and… cut me and whip me. They use me to hurt her." She answers carefully.

"What about _before_ your mother came?" Steve asks quietly.

Suddenly Ilaria's eyes fill with tears and she curls in on herself again. "They did the same. And they… em… they made me do things… things I not want to do. And they touch me."

All of their eyes darken at that statement, the confirmation of what they assumed had happened. Even Thor understands what Ilaria means, and he clenches his fists in anger. The Mjolnir, which was leaning against the wall of the jet, flies to his hand. The vein in Bruce's neck becomes prominent, and a slight green tinge enters his skin.

"I'll kill them." Steve mutters.

"The hawkman already did." Ilaria states.

"Good. What sort of sick bastards do that to a kid?" Steve wonders.

"Please… don't tell Mama." Ilaria begs.

"She needs to know, Ilaria." Bruce says calmly.

"Please don't tell her." She repeats, looking pleadingly at all three men.

"I will not inform your mother of the way those disgusting mortal men treated you." Thor promises determinedly, after a shared look between him, Bruce and Steve.

"I won't say anything either. It's not my place." Bruce agrees.

All three turn their gazes to Steve, who sighs in defeat. "Fine. I won't tell her. But you'll have to tell her eventually."

"Thank you!" Ilaria says in relief. "Thank you. I will tell her. Just… not yet."

* * *

**Next chapter is Natasha, Barton, and Tony talking to Libusa... And Natasha finding out about what happened to Ilaria.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and / or followed so far!**

**I apologise if the Russian is not correct, I just used Babylon translate.**

**_Disclaimer:_ I don't own _The Avengers_, or any of Marvel's characters.**

* * *

Natasha, Clint and Tony leave the plane and walk the block to Libby's house in silence. About halfway there, Natasha's steps falter slightly and she turns to Tony.

"Tony… Is it alright for Ilaria to come and stay at the Tower with us? If it's not, I can just get an apartment for the two of us somewhere. I just thought maybe…"

"Natasha, it's fine. Honestly. I don't mind at all, and I'm sure Pepper would love to have her around."

"You've changed, you know," Natasha says to him. "You're not the rude, crude, self-absorbed man you were when I first met you."

"I think we've all changed recently. None of us are who we were six months ago." He responds.

Natasha nods in silent agreement. The rest of the walk is completed in silence. When they reach Libusa's house, Natasha knocks on the front door. "Libby? Are you home?"

Almost immediately, the door swings open to reveal a blonde haired girl who looks to be about the same age as Ilaria.

"Наталия _(Natalia)_!" The girl exclaims, throwing her arms around Natasha in a tight hug.

"Здравствуйте оболочке (_Hello Katja_)," Natasha replies, hugging the girl back, "Ваша бабушка дома? (_Is your grandmother home_?)"

"Да, конечно. В! _(Yes, of course. Come in!)_" She ushers the three adults inside and Natasha makes her way straight to the kitchen upon smelling a baking cake.

Sure enough, Libusa is in the kitchen, having just taken a cake out of the oven.

"Наталия! _(Natalia!)_" Another blonde girl, this one a few years older, exclaims as she breaks a piece of cake off and pops it into her mouth while her grandmother swats her hands away, when she notices the redhead in the doorway.

"Семейное положение Женат приветствия, _(Hello Olena,)_" Natasha responds.

Libusa hurries over to Natasha, her grey curls bouncing as she moves. "Нашли ли вы -? Я был так беспокоиться, когда я не слышу от вас после того, как вы покинули наш дом в понедельник. _(Did you find Ilaria? I was so worried when I didn't hear from you after you left our house on Monday.)_"

Natasha nods her head, "Да, я нашел ее, и моя группа найти нас обоих. _(Yes, I found her, and my team found us both.)_" She ushers to the two men standing behind her to show that they're members of her team.

"Следует приветствовать, _(Welcome,)_" the old woman says to the two men, "Любые рецепты от Наталья, является другом Libusa's. _(Any friend of Natalia's is a friend of Libusa's.)_"

"Thank you, Ma'am." Clint says, understanding the relatively simple phrase.

"I have no clue what she just said," Tony whispers in Clint's ear.

"She said that any friend of Natasha's is a friend of hers." The blonde man mumbles back.

"Ahhh. Makes sense." Tony nods.

"Вы хотели бы некоторые пирог? _(Would you like some cake?)_" Libusa's eyes flick between the trio questioningly.

"Would we like some cake?" Natasha translates for the two men.

"Uh, would we like some cake? That's a ridiculous question; of course we would like some cake." Tony answers.

"Да, пожалуйста, _(yes please,)_" Natasha says to Libby. "Мы хотели бы некоторые из них. _(We would love some.)_"

"Чай? Кофе? _(Tea? Coffee?)_"

"Кофе, пожалуйста. _(Coffee, please.)_" Natasha answers.

"Черный, один из сахара? _(Black, one sugar?)_" Libby looks at Natasha for confirmation, and the redhead nods. "Просто хотел бы -. _(Just like Ilaria.)_"

"действительно, на самом деле, в самом деле, разве, впрямь, по-настоящему? _(Really?)_" Natasha asks curiously.

"О, да, вы два очень. _(Oh yes, you two are very alike.)_"

Natasha smiles softly at that revelation, because even though she tries to be there for her daughter, she doesn't really know her too well.

"What did she say?" Clint whispers in her ear when he sees the gentle look on his partner's hardened face.

"She said Ilaria and I are quite alike." Natasha responds absently.

"Yeah, I could've told you that, Nat."

"Right," Natasha smirks at him, "Because you can read my eyes like an open book, and apparently she's the same."

"Exactly," Clint responds with a matching smirk.

"You're an idiot." She whispers to him, before focussing back in on what Libby, Olena and Katja are saying.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Strike Team Delta and Iron Man walk down the streets of Russia carrying numerous duffle bags, backpacks and suitcases.

While Libby was saddened by the news that Natasha wanted to take Ilaria back to America with her, the old woman knew it was for the best. The most upsetting part for Libusa, Olena and Katja was the fact that they wouldn't get to say goodbye to Ilaria this time, as Natasha wouldn't let them go to the jet to say their farewells.

"Thank you, Tony." Natasha says out of the blue.

"Hmmm?" He looks at her, wondering what the hell he did to earn her thanks.

"For allowing Ilaria to stay at the tower." Natasha clarifies.

"Oh. Well, it is your floor. You can have whoever you like on your floor." Tony says. "But, no problem. I figured I needed someone new to corrupt anyway, seeing as I've done all I can with Legolas, and Cap is kind of a lost cause, and I don't have enough patience for Thor."

Natasha rolls her eyes and threatens, "You so much as think about turning my daughter into a party animal, I'll make sure you can never have kids of your own."

"Now now, Ms Rushman, don't be like that." Tony says.

Natasha shakes her head and continues walking.

"Hey, Nat…" Clint begins, "Can I see that photo of you and her? The one she had beside her bed."

"Yeah, can you hold this for me?" Nat says, handing Clint one of the backpacks she's carrying, so she can unzip it. Still walking, she rifles through the bag until she pulls out the picture of a young Ilaria, no more than seven years old, and Natasha.

Clint isn't sure who took the photo – he assumes it was Libusa – as Ilaria is sitting on a swing while Natasha pushes her. Both mother and daughter are smiling and laughing happily, even though the grey mist of rain can be seen falling around them, and their long red hair is hanging it wet strands around and across their faces. It's such a strange sight, to see Natasha looking so happy, and Clint can't take his eyes off it.

"I have my own copy of the photo," Natasha whispers quietly. "I keep it under my pillow."

"You don't have many photos of her, do you?" Clint guesses.

"No," Natasha shakes her. "For exactly the same reason that you don't have many photos of Izzy."

"The less hard evidence of their existence, the less danger they're in."

"Exactly." Natasha agrees.

"Do you think they'll get along alright? Ilaria and Izzy?" Clint wonders.

Natasha smiles at the prospect, "I hope so. Aria will be able to babysit Izzy when we have to go on missions. That should keep her out of everyone else's hair."

"Everyone else loves that little girl," Tony pipes up. "She has us all wrapped around that tiny little pinky of hers."

"And doesn't she know it," Clint states.

The three all chuckle just as they reach the jet and walk up the ramp, just in time to hear the end of a conversation.

They hear Steve sigh in what sounds like defeat, "Fine. I won't tell her. But you'll have to tell her eventually."

"Thank you!" Ilaria says, her voice full of relief. "Thank you. I will tell her. Just… not yet."

"You'll tell who what?" Natasha narrows her eyes, looking between the entirely guilty looking quartet. "What's going on?"

Ilaria is frozen, like a deer caught in the headlights, Bruce does not want to be involved in any form of conflict, and Thor knows he'll probably just make things worse. So, naturally, it's Steve who speaks up.

"Ilaria needs to tell you about something that happened before you found her."

* * *

**Any guesses as to who 'Izzy' is? And what sort of interactions would you like to see between Ilaria and The Avengers, and Pepper?**

**Hope you liked it!**


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